Perhaps the simplest way of stating the question is in terms of the relationship between language and thought or between language and knowledge or between language structure and the structure of the perceptual world; and I wish here to make a confession about why this subject interests me in relation to Caribbean speech behaviour.

This book scores an immediate plus with its title which gives to the language of Haitians its proper name, i.e. l’haitien in French. I have long campaigned for the removal of the term “creole” from the designation of Caribbean languages. This book will certainly help to establish proper designations based on the universal principle of using the adjective of nationality. This is a selection of articles by three authors (or “editors” as they are billed on the fly sheet) on different aspects of Haitian grammar.